FEBRUARY/MARCH 2015
IN THIS ISSUE:
 

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Building the capacity to deliver REDD+
Our goal is to support developing countries to build the capacities necessary to design and deliver REDD+ strategies, through the convening role and technical expertise of our collaborating UN agencies: FAO, UNDP and UNEP.

This bi-monthly, multi-lingual news and information resource provides REDD+ practitioners with access to the tools needed to develop and share REDD+ capacities. Sign up today.

 
REDD+ IN THE NEWS
01/02/2015 -- Addis Fortune
The Ministry of Environment and Forest, together with Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation project and a German Remote Sensing Solutions GMBH has started procedures that will allow the country to have access to the five meter resolution satellite images of its landscapes and forest coverage. Read more.

President Joko Widodo has disbanded Indonesia's BP REDD+ agency and merged it with Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Read more.

"el compromiso de Colombia para conservar los bosques,  restaurar las tierras degradadas y promover sistemas agr�colas clim�ticamente inteligentes est� en el centro de cumplir con �xito tres objetivos de desarrollo a largo plazo de del gobierno: la paz, la equidad y la educaci�n". Read more.


14/01/2015 -- Daily Trust Nigeria
A team of experts from the National Office for Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) under the Federal Ministry of Environment has accessed Taraba State owned forest reserve as part of strategy to engage two more states unto the programme. Read more.

REDD+: Country model for forest carbon stock estimation emerges
11/01/2015 -- EnviroNews Nigeria
Nigeria may be spearheading an initiative on the African continent that would accurately measure the level of forest carbon stocks, and reap handsome financial reward. Read more.

Tropical forests fight carbon better than we hoped
29/12/2014 -- Nature World News
A study recently led by NASA experts has revealed that the Earth's tropical forests are somehow absorbing more carbon dioxide (CO2) than experts thought possible, taking the harmful greenhouse gas from our atmosphere at unprecedented rates. Read more.

Restored forests breathe life into efforts against climate change
23/12/2014 -- New York Times
Costa Rica is considered a forest success. Much of the country's old-growth forest was lost from the 1940s to the 1980s, but then new policies stemmed the loss, and forests have regrown to cover more than half the country. Read more.

Report suggests forest-cutting can immediately harm climatic patterns
19/12/2014 -- Washington Post
The critical role that vast tropical forests such as Brazil's Amazon play in suppressing climate change is well known. But as a report out this week argues, scientists are making the case that cutting down these forests does more than simply release carbon into the atmosphere - it has a direct and more immediate effect on the climate, from changes in rainfall patterns to increases in temperatures. Read more.

 

Mapping rain forests to fight climate change

6/12/2014 -- Newsweek
 ...from up in the air, Asner's invention, the Airborne Taxonomic Mapping System, beams a pair of laser signals down at 500,000 pulses per second to measure the carbon embedded in the sinews of every tree, root and plant in the forest. Read more.

  

UN-REDD Calls for REDD+ to link mitigation and adaptation

12/2014 -- IISD

The UN-REDD Programme released an info brief exploring how REDD+ can achieve synergies between climate change mitigation and adaptation. 
Read more.


 

UPCOMING EVENTS
The Economics of Climate Change Mitigation Options in the Forest Sector
International online conference
6-27 February 2015 -- Worldwide
More >

International Day of Forests
21 March 2015 -- Worldwide

UN-REDD Programme 14th Policy Board Meeting
May 2015 -- Washington, DC
More >

14th World Forestry Congress
7-11 September 2015 -- Durban, South Africa 
More >
PUBLICATIONS
REDD+ and Adaptation
This publication examines the links between REDD+ and adaptation actions, as well as potential trade-offs. Download >

Legal Preparedness for REDD+
This brochure explores how the UN-REDD Programme could assist developing countries to analyze and adapt their legal frameworks and includes examples of country efforts to adopt REDD+ legal frameworks and strengthen REDD+ legislative processes in a participatory and inclusive way. Download >

Tenure and REDD+
The brochure explains the importance of tenure in the context of REDD+ and provides a description of some of the major tenure issues that countries face. Download >

Early Lessons from Jurisdictional REDD+ and Low Emissions Development Programs
This FCPF and Nature Conservancy report features eight REDD+/LED programs and provides insights into the dynamics and realities experienced on the ground by these jurisdictions in their efforts to reduce forest related emissions -- and opportunities for scaling these up on a transformational scale. Download >
JOBS
Forest and Land Use Officer
Secretariat of the Green Climate Fund
More >

Knowledge Specialist
UN-REDD Programme Secretariat
To be announced soon
Programme Manager
Forest Trends
Washington, DC
More >
Senior Forestry Officer (Team Leader)
FAO
Rome, Italy
More >
Senior Program Coordinator, Forest Investment Program
World Bank
Washington, DC
More >
LEARN
CONNECT
ABOUT
PERSPECTIVES
Connecting the REDD+ and gender dots in Malawi  
Stella Gama, Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, Malawi explores the relationship between gender and REDD+. Read.
Helen Clark on reducing tropical deforestation related to key agricultural commodities'
Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator and Chair of the United Nations Development Group, addresses participants of the 2015 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Read.

Keep the forests standing for people and the planet 
Ibrahim Thiaw, UN Assistant-Secretary-General and UNEP Deputy Executive Director, narrates the important role of forests and the great threats that they face. Read.
UN-REDD PROGRAMME NEWS
Optimism and ambition for REDD+ heard loud and clear at UN Climate Change Conference
A panel of high-level REDD+ leaders convened at the 2014 UN Climate Change Conference in Lima to reiterate the important role of forests to mitigate climate change -- and REDD+ as a catalyst for sustainable development. Learn more.
Fiji becomes newest UN-REDD Programme partner country
Fiji has become the latest partner country of the UN-REDD Programme, bringing the total to 58 countries. Vanuatu and the Dominican Republic have also expressed formal interest. Learn more.
Norway commits additional US$ 11 million to UN-REDD Programme, US$ 600K from Spain
The future of the UN-REDD Programme was strengthened at the Programme's 13th Policy Board Meeting, with new donor pledges of approximately US$ 600,000 from Spain and US$ 11 million from Norway. Learn more.

UN-REDD Programme 2016-2020 Strategy in development
In accordance with the UN-REDD Programme 2016-2020 strategy development "roadmap" approved by the Programme's Policy Board, a consultative and participatory strategy development process is underway. Learn more.

Opening up space for indigenous peoples advocacy at UN global climate conference
Indigenous peoples have formally taken part in a UNFCCC COP for the first time, thanks to a pavilion organized to showcase their experiences, concerns, needs, priorities and proposals related to climate change adaptation and mitigation. Learn more.

Active listening process concludes in Panama

The Panama REDD+ initiative has successfully completed its "active listening" process -- an innovative approach to local stakeholder engagement in REDD+ issues. Learn more.
Launch of forest governance data shows great potential for Viet Nam's REDD+ policy-making and implementation

An integrated process involving stakeholders from academia, civil society and government bodies is a first attempt at assessing forest governance using a broad participatory approach in Viet Nam, a new report highlights. Learn more.

New studies contribute to better understanding of deforestation in Zambia 

The causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Zambia, as well as the economic context of REDD+ in the country, are shared in three publications produced by the UN-REDD Zambia National Programme. Learn more.

Innovative REDD+ stakeholder analysis methodology piloted in Honduras

A stakeholder mapping and analysis project in Honduras aims to support countries in identifying stakeholders that could be crucial for the design, planning and implementation of REDD+ inclusive processes. Learn more.

 

 

Building capacity in Asia Pacific to develop and implement gender-sensitive REDD+ action

Knowledge exchanges took place to integrate gender-sensitive action into Cambodia and Viet Nam REDD+ programmes. Learn more.

 

 

 
CAPACITY BUILDING:
UNFCCC REDD+ GUIDELINES
Cambodia's REDD+ safeguards information system progresses

A working paper has been developed by voluntary members of the Cambodia REDD+ Taskforce on what approach to take when developing a REDD+ safeguards information system in the country. Learn more.

 

Paraguay socializa las tendencias preliminares de los resultados del Inventario Forestal Nacional

"el compromiso de Colombia para conservar los bosques,  restaurar las tierras degradadas y promover sistemas agr�colas clim�ticamente inteligentes est� en el centro de cumplir con �xito tres objetivos de desarrollo a largo plazo de del gobierno: la paz, la equidad y la educaci�n". Learn more.

South Asia builds its capacities to calculate forest resources through data sharing

Nepal, Bhutan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka demonstrated how data sharing programs could improve forest resource estimates using information already available in regional or global databases, at regional knowledge event. Learn more.

Brazil hosts South-South knowledge exchange with Sri Lanka on forest monitoring systems

A South-South knowledge sharing and training programme has been hosted by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research on data interpretation for forest monitoring systems, as part of the capacity development initiatives under Sri Lanka's UN-REDD Programme.  Learn more.

Viet Nam begins process to establish REDD+ forest reference levels

A three-day intensive drafting session to establish Viet Nam's forest reference levels took place as part of the UN-REDD Viet Nam Phase II Programme. Learn more.

 

 

 

Second regional Pacific Islands forest inventory workshop held in Solomon Islands 

The regional workshop provided participants with a full overview of the range of knowledge, skills and experience necessary to consider, plan and implement a pilot national forest inventory in their country. Learn more.

 

 

Working sessions held on land-use planning for REDD+ in Kenya

Drivers of deforestation and forest degradation in Kenya were examined and targeted maps were developed for spatial REDD+ planning in several land-use workshop sessions. Learn more.

 

 

Training on use of land cover classification system in Sri Lanka

A training session on land cover classification system (LCCS) was organized in Sri Lanka, moving the country towards use of an innovative system for designing land use maps. Learn more.

Pacific Island countries share experiences on national forest monitoring systems

Participants from seven countries met

to share and exchange information and experiences on their national forest monitoring systems. Learn more.
Video: From concept to reality -- UN-REDD Programme's REDD+ Academy explained in new video

Video: Climate Summit 2014 -- New York Declaration on Forests

This resource is made possible through the generous support of the governments of Norway, the European Commission, Denmark, Luxembourg, Japan and Spain.


Content provided by UN-REDD Programme staff and country partners. 

All images used courtesy of license holder or through Creative Commons license.

Honduras forest image: Ronald F. Billings, Texas Forest Service, Bugwood.org